Individuals vs the greater good

Maybe if we were getting paid, we'd feel more responsible for the lack of posting in the past week. That's not to say there isn't a little bit of guilt oozing through the gray matter, just not enough to cause us to do much more than mutter a half-hearted "sorry".

It's baccalaureate and graduation time around Oklahomily Manor, one from high school and the other from middle school. The house has been filled with family and friends, and yours truly was immersed in a custom DVD project to highlight youngest daughter's life, to honor her on her senior graduation. This project burned an incredible amount of midnight oil, particularly on its final night when the Oklahomilist stupidly waived the first rule of computing ("save frequently") and wound up losing a half-day's work on a power glitch.

In all this was added five baseball games of youngest Son of Oklahomilist. Our baseball team is a family affair, as I am the team manager and head coach, and Son No. 2 is my trusted and enthusiastic assistant coach. Mom and sibs attend most games.

We've been meeting ourselves coming and going.

So when Bonds hit number 714, all we had strength to do was to mutter "so what?" at the tube and briefly consider wandering over to yon computer terminal for a post. Said consideration was rejected.

But if we had managed the strength to post, we would have said something like "Sadly Major League Baseball took too long to get serious about steroid use, and so it is no surprise that Bonds ties, and eventually will exceed, the Babe. It appears increasingly unlikely that he will master Hank Aaron's 755, as he is stumbling around the outfield and with each passing game showing more signs of proof that his body is breaking down from the chemical abuse it has taken."

Last night we watched as San Francisco managed to silence the bat of our beloved Cardinals. It was a good night for the Giants but a so-so night for Bonds. In the sixth inning we watched in amazement as he failed to make it to a routine fly ball that would not have challenged an untested rookie. It wasn't an error but it was defensive incompetence, and this is far sadder and more tragic for the Giants than most of the sports media are telling. The play turned into a double for Pujols. In a close game, how could the Giants continue to keep Bonds in the field? He is a liability. Sure, those "fans" who are waiting for Nos. 715 and 756 would be disappointed if Bonds were not at the plate, but what about the team? What about the other 24 players and the coaching staff who would like to win? What about the players who came to San Francisco to build a winner? Don't they deserve the manager positioning his players in the best possible conifiguration to win?

This is why Barry and Barry-mania is bad for baseball and so epitomizes the age in which we live. Individual records are all that count: it's all about celebrity, not necessarily the good of the team, or an industry, or a country. Sacrifice is sold short.

Which brings the Oklahomilist to his point: When the needs of the family, and the responsibilities to the baseball team require it, posting is not a priority. I will take myself out of the lineup, temporarily, for the greater good.

Would that Barry Bonds, or his adoring manager, would do the same.